World Sphere - 227 - My Shifty Kitty

Chapter 227: My Shifty Kitty

Remy reviewed the contract for the trackers and seemed satisfied. He volunteered to bring the signed contracts to Renfroe’s a little too eagerly, and I guessed he wanted to see the long-necked elf secretary again. I sent Bleiz with him, despite doubting there was any danger in this part of Elespolis.

Freya was sprawled on the couch, holding her belly. The food had been good, but I had been too preoccupied with Malik to truly enjoy it. “Can we go to the zoo?” Freya asked, her head upside down, hanging over the cushions near the floor.

There was an impressive bestiary zoo in the Passage, but I thought it was in a different city. “Not this trip, Freya.”

“But they had phantom cats!” Freya said a little whiny. Kiara’s head lifted, and she sent me images of curiosity.

“No,” I said firmly, but there had to be a good beast master in one of the cities where I could get Kiara and Adrial’s cores tested. Maybe they had settled enough to accept another beast essence. Beasts could be enhanced with dungeon beast essences but needed to wait between consuming them or they would die. Beasts also had matrixes like humanoids for spell abilities, but those required a beast inscriber. Adrial’s small six-point matrix was full, but Kiara’s twenty-three-point matrix still had five points remaining.

“Yes. Do that. More power,” Kiara said, reading my thoughts. It was still unnerving to have her watching my thoughts sometimes. I took out my communication stone for Remy and asked him to gather information on a beast master who might visit us, rather than leaving our room. Every time I went out in public, I seemed to be confronted by a member of some House. I was finding the Passage more treacherous than Skyholme when the Triumvirate was in power. My opinion of the Houses was very low as it seemed like they were bored and trying to find something to occupy their time.

Half an hour later, Remy contacted me. “The contract is complete, and the delivery will be tomorrow night to the Maelstrom, where we are docked. Renfroe found someone who specializes in feline beast training. He has experience with phantom cats and beast essences. He is also willing to come to you for a small fee to appraise the cats’ aether cores.”

“Set it up,” I confirmed. Kiara started pacing in anticipation, and Adrial joined her, not quite understanding what was going on but trusting her sister.

When Remy and Bleiz returned two hours later with a powerfully built beastkin cat, I was slightly shocked. His fur was an amber color, and his large eyes golden almost glowed. His feline jawline curled into a smile, exposing a predator's fangs as he entered our suite and spotted Kiara and Adrial.

Adrial and Kiara were immediately on their feet, and their backs arched. Kiara’s white coat and red glowing eyes fixed on the catkin. Adrial’s black fur and geen eyes matched Kiara’s angst. Kiara growled first, followed by Adrial. “Father, he is trying to calm us with his scent. I will not be calmed.”

“Stop using your pheromones, or you will be asked to leave,” I said flatly, as I knew exactly what he was doing. I could also smell a very slight musk in the air.

The catkin held up his hands in placation and took his eyes off Kiara and Adrian to focus on me. “There is no danger to anyone, it is just a tier one beast ability. It is impressive they are aware enough to resist. I am Aspen.” He held out his manicured clawed hand for me to shake. I reluctantly did so.

“You took beast essences?” I asked, confused. That would be the only way a person could get a beast ability.

“Yes, do you need me to explain?” He asked, amused.

I didn’t like his confidence or bravado. The humanoid races couldn’t take beast essences or it would alter their bodies so much they couldn’t have children. I took a wild guess. “The beastkin races have affinity for some dungeon beast essences,” I stated, like I knew what I was talking about. Beast essences were so rare and very few people in Skyholme had pets that I never delved deeper into their mysteries.

“Mostly correct. Someone still needs to make sure they will harmonize and not alter the physiology of the imbiber.” He gestured at Bleiz and the Skyguard. “You employ wolfkin, I assumed they have used beast essences to increase their prowess.” He was probably making assumptions based on the fact that we were in a very expensive hotel and all of us had artificed gear.

I ignored him, not revealing that they only used normal essences. “Can you read them to see if they can consume wolf beast essences?” I asked. I was always willing to spend gold to make my people stronger.

“If you had the beast essence with you, I could.” His interest returned to Kiara and Adrial, turning away from the Wolfsguard. “But you brought me here to check on your girls over there.” The way he said it and the lustful look on his face made me angry. Although this was the first catkin I had met so I might be reading the situation wrong.

“Check the white one first,” I indicated, and I dove into my link with Kiara to watch him as he worked. Kiara sat but her tail twitched anxiously as the catkin approached. He reached out and placed his hand on her head.

“Snack?” Kiara said in a joking tone in our shared mind space.

“No, don’t eat him unless he tries something,” I said through our link. I could feel his probes through our link.

The catkin’s jaw hung open. “She is remarkable! So much potential! And you have already had beast inscriptions at such a young age. You are a marvelous beast,” he said to Kiara, looking like he might kiss her nose, and in response, she growled and showed her fangs. The catkin stepped back slightly, his smile gone.

“Yes, well she has some room on her matrix, although I cannot read what you have already inscribed for her other than their tier. A tier four ability,” he looked at me, and Kiara growled. “Ah, yes we are here to see if her beast core has calmed enough for another beast essence.”

He focused again and Kiara sent me what she was feeling as his senses seemed to travel all over her body. I told her to let him work. “I don’t see any turbulence. She is not full-grown yet. What beast essence did you give her?” The probe snapped back to the man, and he edged toward Adrial.

“She took a tier three clarity of sight beast essence over a year ago,” I replied.

“Tier three and she is already capable of another?” the catkin seemed in disbelief.

“Read Adrial and then you can leave,” I said sternly.

Adrial seemed a little receptive to his closeness, but he worked much faster. “No. She has not settled. Her muscles are still adapting to changes, so I am guessing a physical change?”

“A tier two strength essence,” I replied.

He nodded a little more professionally. “Then I suggest a physical reinforcement next—either a bone enhancement or toughness enhancement. Tier two is a large leap in strength, and the body can not keep up. “The turbulence is very minor, and she should be ready in a year. My residence is in the wilds, but Renfroe can reach me, and I can be in the city in an hour. I suggest a check-up in a year, and if you wish, I am probably the best man to procure beast essences in this Passage.” His eyes drifted to Kiara longingly again.

I hated having to deal with this catkin. “I will confer with Renfroe and Remy to handle your fee,” I said, dismissing him. If he were truly the best, then I would use Renfroe as an intermediary and not let this catkin near my girls again. Remy escorted him out.

Freya voiced her opinion of Aspen, “I didn’t like him.”

“His scent reminded me of a cat in heat,” Bleiz commented, also showing his disgust.

Kiara had already forgotten about him. She understood the conversation enough to know what was coming. “New beast essence,” she said in my head and her massive white head pressed me into the wall.

“Fine, yes. You can choose!” I tried pushing her away. I had four beast essences in my space, but I knew what she wanted. The beast essences were: aether vortex, a tier two essence that would enhance her ability to recover aether. Silent aura was a tier one ability that eliminated sound. The tier two self-heal would go to Adrial when she was ready. Aspen was right as I did have to heal Adrial’s muscles when she used her enhanced quickness and beast strength. The final beast essence was the shape change essence. It would allow Kiara to pick one other form to change into, and she had been looking forward to this for a long time.

My only concern was that phantom cats only lived about fifty years, so I would need to find some elixirs to extend their lifespan. My ribs popped, and Kiara finally backed away as I grunted in pain. “Fine! Let’s go over how it works before you consume,” I said. Kiara sat obediently, and Adrial did the same, thinking they were getting treats. “You need to have a clear picture in your mind of what you want your second form to be when you consume it. Remember, you will retain your mass, so don’t be a three hundred pound mouse.”

I produced a large red slab of meat for Adrial that would take her a few seconds to chew on. She took it to the corner, away from her sister, even though Kiara preferred her meat cooked. “Ready…” Kiara said in my mind.

“Break the connection,” I said. “I don’t want to cloud your thoughts.” Our shared mind dissolved and the beast essence appeared in my hand. I broke the seal and Kiara’s mouth engulfed my hand. I slowly turned the vial over so she wouldn’t miss a drop. You only needed to consume about 70% of an essence for it to work, so I was not overly concerned.

I stepped back and the others crowded in. Freya was bouncing excitedly, “Is she going to be a Pegasus? I showed her lots of pictures.”

“Wait and see,” I said. I knew Kiara was going to pick a humanoid form. I just didn’t know what she would choose. Finally, her body distorted, and she started to shrink. Arm forms from her forelegs and her torso thinned impossibly fast. I pulled a robe from my space, ready to cover her.

Her white fur pulled back into her body as alabaster skin formed. As her massive feline head shrank, her pointed ears remained. Her artificed cat collar fell to the floor with a thud. Her wide red eyes narrowed to fit her new frame but stayed a luminescent red. A long mane of silvery white hair trailed down her back. There was one danger with the shapechanger beast essence: the beast core needed enough aether to complete the change. If not, the transformation could take hours or days. Kiara did not have this problem, but her elven face squeezed in pain from the effort.

I draped the cloak over her as she finished, and Freya clapped. Adrial’s eyes were panicked, her bloody steak forgotten. She raced to her sister and sniffed her. Her whiskers tickled Kiara’s new elven face. Kiara giggled and then tried to cover her mouth but poked herself in the eye. Kiara was on her knees and tried to stand, but failed, tripping over herself.

“You are going to have to learn to control your new body. The text said it takes a few months,” I said. Her glowing red eyes looked at me defiantly.

“She is so beautiful!” Freya said. “She kind of looks like Aelyn.”

I could see the resemblance as well, but her elven features were less pronounced and she was nearly the same height as me. Her figure was petite, which could pose problems since a full-grown phantom cat might weigh up to six hundred pounds. Maybe I could make her an artifact to reduce her mass in this form. The mental connection snapped back into place. “Did I do well?” she asked. Her mouth moved, but only guttural words came out. “Is father pleased with my form?”

I spoke aloud. “Yes, you did great. And yes, after you master your body, you can learn to fly the Maelstrom.”

“Father, teach me to fight in this body too?” she asked insistently.

“When you learn to control it, Bleiz can teach you,” I said.

“I want Father to teach me,” she said, her elf body growling and her tone rising in the connection.

“When you have mastered control of the body, we can train together.” I looked at Freya, giving her the best assignment of her life. “When we get back to Skyholme, you and Aelyn can take her out for some clothes.”

“I want Father to choose my clothes,” she growled through the connection.

I wasn’t a complete idiot and knew she had chosen a body similar to Aelyn’s to appeal to me. I also didn’t want her to throw a temper tantrum. “Go with Aelyn and Freya and pick them out. Then you can model them for me like Aeyln does.” Kiara’s mind seemed to process this, and with our connection, I groaned as she saw this as a competition to outdo Aelyn. I should have let Kiara mature much further before allowing her to consume the essence.

“I am an adult…” came back forcibly through the link. I focused my will and pushed aether into my mind fortress and severed the link.

“We are leaving tomorrow after everything is loaded. Remy talk to Renfroe to see if he can start procuring dungeon beast essences with a canine aspect for the Skyguard. If Aspen is the best source, use him, but I don’t want to deal with him directly. See if there is any magitech out there that can do what Aspen does. I have been very disappointed with all the beast tamers I have met.”

Kiara was still trying to reestablish the mind link, but I had leveled my defenses to the point I could hold her off if I focused. She needed to learn that I was the one in charge. Neoma and Freya started to help Kiara stand as she learned control over her new body. I retreated to my room, wondering how everything turned into a bigger problem. The door had its own privacy screen and the noise of the common room suite disappeared.

I did my aether core exercises and went to sleep.

As the Maelstrom sped back toward Skyholme, I took out the books I owned on skyships. I had Sebastian’s book on the Wind Splitter, the plans for the first Harbinger, and Maelstrom, which was essentially heavily modified plans for the Maelstrom. The Wind Splitter was a small transport used in passages by dark elves from the Outer Sphere.

I wanted to build a small, fast passenger transport for Remy and fourteen others from Skyholme. Cargo was a secondary concern to getting our people back and forth to the Passage. There were always ways to cheat if one of the passengers on board had ample dimensional space. I only had one delver with a large space—Lana. I was guessing she was going to start making more trips than delving soon.

I started sketching a simple design. The ship was long and narrow, only fifteen feet wide but sixty feet long. The bridge was in the front cone and also housed all the runes. It looked like a sausage. I had very little originality. I called Remy from the bridge, and when he found out what I was working on, he had a lot of ideas. He had been eagerly watching all the ships zipping in the skies over the passage and even stepped into a few transports. He had even purchased simple deck plans from Renfroe. In one of the other cities in the Passage, skyships and void-capable ships were bought and sold.

“We want the mass to be as small as possible, to maximize the speed-aether crystal efficiency. A lot of the transports in the Passage use metal, but if we stick with wood, we can save a lot on mass,” Remy explained.

“I want it to be safe and not fall apart from a simple attack,” I replied.

“We can invest in more aether shielding—we do have the best master artificer in the Sphere,” Remy said, grinning. “This is ugly,” Remy said, ripping up sketches. He pulled out his own sketches. “Due to wind resistance inside the Sphere, we do want some aerodynamics. We actually should have made the Maelstrom’s wings larger in case the aether crystals failed.”

“The Maelstrom doesn’t have wings,” I said.

“Exactly!” Remy replied. “Now try this.” Remy sketched out something that sparked memories I had long forgotten. It was still smaller than the Maelstrom, with one deck and a crawlspace underneath. It would be a pain to do all the artificing in the space, but I guess I could do it lying down. The nose had a small pilot's room, even smaller than the Maelstrom’s. Directly behind the pilot's room was a small fifteen-by-twenty-foot common room. Further aft, there were two bunk tiny bunk rooms, each with triple-high bunks on opposite walls, providing the ship with sleeping for twelve. The skyship was fifteen feet wide and thirty-three feet long.

“That is not room for fifteen people,” I noted.

“The lower deck is so short that the main deck can have a twelve-foot ceiling. The bridge can have two elevated bunks so the pilot and navigator can sleep there. It will also allow the bridge door to be sealed if we ever take on commercial passengers and worry about them stealing it,” Remy said triumphantly.

“I am deeply concerned, Remy.” He frowned at my chastisement. “You are supposed to be good at math. Fourteen is not fifteen,” I said. We had planned on fifteen students coming from Skyholme.

Remy rolled his eyes, “Someone has to pilot the ship, and they can rotate bunks as well. The common room has seating for fifteen.”

“Fine. We have two months to build this,” I said.

“Oh, Storme. These are just sketches. Give Rippon and me a month and time to consult other shipwrights. We will get something finalized. Just don’t forget about the aether crystals,” Remy said.

I never had enough gold.

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